


On Pearls and Diamonds

by jessyeap



Series: Pearl's life on Earth [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 21:03:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14922792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessyeap/pseuds/jessyeap
Summary: So, here are my thoughts on how Pearl and Pink first met and how their relationship grew from that moment on.





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. This is my first fanfic ever. I'm not an English speaker and my girlfriend helped me to correct some of the mistakes, so sorry if some slipped past us

“Colony YE43e is almost completed. However, the reports say that the conditions for gem harvesting are 80% of what we expected, which is not good enough. The gems we are harvesting are not going to be any good for my standards.”  


Pearl could hear Yellow Diamond from the communication hub. White Diamond would not be happy with this information. It has been eons since Yellow Diamond brought out any good news on the gems that she harvested on her colonies. She wondered that maybe the problem was not the colonies at all. *she gasped* Oh lord, where had that thought come from?  


“Silence, Pearl!” Snapped White Diamond, before turning back to her sister on the screen. “That is not acceptable, Yellow. What is it, sister, that has been happening to your colonies? You haven’t been able to harvest good gems for eons, now. I’m starting to think you lost your touch for the thing!”  


“White, it is not my fault that we can’t find any good piece of rock in this forsaken end of the galaxy.” Yellow’s tone became a few octaves higher. “I am sick of this sector of the universe. The standards here are just too low! Don’t you dare put this on me, sister.”  


White closed her eyes and stood silence for a moment “I see. What about you, Blue, how is your status with your newest colony? Are the kindergartens set and running already?  


Pearl swallowed and let go of her breath. Pearl had seen Yellow Diamond and White Diamond fight before, of course, but for some reason, she was always on the bad end of these occasions. Once, White Diamond made her stay still for 50 years after a particularly bad conversation with Yellow Diamond about a random colony Pearl could not remember the name.  


“Yes, they are going perfectly well. Everything is perfect.” Pearl noticed that Blue Diamond’s voice had a stressed tone, almost as if she was being ironic about her status.  


White Diamond noticed it as well. “What’s bothering you, sister?”  


“Pink! Of course.” She practically yelled, making Pearl shudder unnoticeably. “She is being a handful these last few years. I think she is probably bored. She has been asking questions about colonies, demanding to be more participative on the kingdom ruling, and giving tantrums about not being taken serious by us for ages now. I am getting tired of her.”  


Pearl made a huge effort to stay still on her post. Every time they started talking about their off-colour sister, Pink Diamond, the atmosphere between the three authorities became uncomfortable. Being the Pearl of the flawless White Diamond, it was weird to think of a diamond that would give tantrums about not been respected by anyone. White Diamond was the ultimate diamond. It was no secret that she was even more powerful than Yellow and Blue combined. It made Pearl curious about how Pink would be like in “gem”. She had already heard some very unsettling stories about Pink giving Yellow and Blue a hard time, through their video conferences, but White was never there. White had never even seen Pink. When she heard that another diamond came out of a fourth hole in the ancient kindergarten of Homeworld, she was a billion light-years away from Homeworld and did not bother to go there and meet her sister. “She is defective” She had said. “Make her disappear!” But Blue would not pursue her orders and that was the worst five thousand years of Pearl’s life. It was past now.  


“Oh, this again, Blue?” Yellow said as if she had heard of it a million times now. “Sister, by now you should have gotten a hold of how to deal with Pink. Tell her she is yet too young to participate. She understood it when I told her.”  


“Yellow, this was eons ago.” Blue snapped. “She is older now and she is getting tired of us telling her she is not ready to have her own colony.”  


White put her hand on her forehead and let out a frustrated breath. “What are you implying, Blue? Do you think she is ready to have her own colony?”  


“No, not at all. I am just saying she is pissing me off, White. She wants to meet you, too. She thinks real fondly of you. She thinks you do not care for her, at all.” Her voice became pleading.  


Pearl turned her head a few centimetres. She had known Pink’s insistence about meeting her older sister for a couple of thousands of years now. She thought that it was not that bad of a desire. They were sisters, after all, and White, as the leader of the diamonds, had a high prestige among every existing gem, why would that be different for Pink?  


White let out a frustrated sigh. “If only you had shattered her as I said in the first place. I am not leaving my sector of the universe to see our little off-colour sister, Blue. Give her a colony, if you must!” She made a pause and looked angrily in Pearl’s direction for a few moments, who straightened up ready to receive either an order or a reprimand from her diamond; and turned her attention back to her sisters after a while. “Here, tell her that I am sorry for being too busy to meet her. And tell her I am sending her one of my most valued Pearls as a gift for conquering her first colony. I was thinking about getting a new one, anyway.” Pearl’s mind was at shock, she felt White Diamond lift her by her arm all the way up to the front of the screen. “Give her a tiny planet from some undermined sector of your part of the universe, Blue. And I will be shipping this Pearl in one of my ships. Make it sound as if it is a big thing and tell her that this Pearl has been with me for a long time. She knows her manners and is used to being a diamond’s Pearl.”


	2. Two

Two weeks later, Pearl found herself onboard of a cargo ship, with spatial paraphernalia and a couple of rubies heading towards a completely new sector of the universe, straight to Blue Diamond’s kingdom. After that particularly lifechanging videoconference with the other diamonds, White Diamond did not tell her what would be going on in the next two weeks ahead. She just told her the day it happened. “Pearl, you are going to serve on the court of Pink Diamond from now on. I am going to ship you to Blue Diamonds colony BL42b, where you will meet with Blue Diamond herself and she is going to introduce you to your new diamond, on my behalf. As my last order, I want you to serve not only as a pearl, but as an adviser as well. You know how I lead my colonies better than practically anyone. I am sure that you will be able to help my off-colour sister on the beginning of her part of the empire. You served me well.” With that she left, to never be seen by Pearl again.  


Now, there she was heading to meet her new master, young and inexperienced Pink Diamond. Not everyone in the kingdom knew about Pink’s real nature, about her being off-colour, tiny and hugely undermined by her sisters. Common knowledge was that Pink had arisen later, but she was never seen by pedant gems. This was a secret only high elite gems knew. High elite, and their pearls of course. Pearl did not know how to feel about it. She knew her life would change forever. Each diamond had their own personalities. She had known Blue and Yellow Diamond’s pearls and seen for herself how their masters differences projected different personalities for their pearls. She did not know anything about Pink’s way of ruling though, since she had never ruled in the first place. She also had never seen Pink Diamond in person. All she knew was from White Diamond’s videoconferences with Blue and Yellow Diamond and from that perspective, she was up to some very complicated new master.  


However, deep down, Pearl was excited to meet this mysterious young diamond, capable of making lustrous Blue Diamond feel so infuriated. She had a hard time visualizing how Pink could make her sisters feel so frustrated and not be dead at this point. She did not sound like a diamond in certain ways. And most important, it seemed as if she did not act like one. Pearl was grateful that her thoughts could not be heard at this moment. She was afraid, but she was also looking forward to it, after serving White Diamond for so long, to have a significant change in her life. That was mostly it. A change. It was not freedom, but it was at least something different.  


The ship wobbled slightly, and Pearl recognized the landing process start. After a while, she found herself on Blue Diamond’s arm-shaped ship and a blue Agathe was leading her to Blue Diamond’s chamber, not even glancing at Pearl in the process.  


“… Pearl is not enough though, is it Blue? I wanted to meet her, I have the right to meet her, I am her sister, this kingdom is mine, too.” Pearl heard a high-pitched voice almost yelling when Blue Pearl opened the door. She bowed down and voiced a small “My diamonds.” as their conversation quickly stopped. She stood bowed until Blue Diamond gave her permission to ease up.  


“Hello Pearl, I am very happy you arrived well.” Blue Diamond said without asking her if she had in fact arrived well. “I understand White Diamond sent you as a gift to Pink Diamond, who’s establishing her first colony very soon. You are from now on to serve Pink Diamond and her court and be addressed as Pink Pearl until Pink sees for herself to get her own Pearl. Bow to your new master.” Pearl did so, as Pink got closer to her with an angry but curious face. “At ease, Pearl. Hello.” Pearl straighten herself up “My diamond, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, and to serve you.” She added that last part after a while. Pink smiled and Pearl smiled back.  


Blue Diamond left soon after that, saying something about going to her colony’s moon. Pearl stood still for a while, getting a good look at her surroundings; she had never been to Blue Diamond’s chamber.  


“Are you just gonna stand there and do nothing?” Pink said, as if she was expecting something from Pearl.  


“Uh, what would you like me to do, my Diamond?” Pearl asked confused, since the diamond did not give her any order. Or did she?  


“Er, I don’t know. Like, we just met right? And you came to me directly from White Diamond. So, I thought you were here to… I don’t know. Why did White give you to me?” Pink’s voice was sweeter than White Diamond’s. They did not look alike, at all. She was way smaller than her older sister, and just a couple of meters taller than Pearl. She also looked young and naïve. Her belly diamond gem had even a different cut from White Diamond’s gem.  


“White Diamond gave, uh, me to you as a gift, congratulating you for conquering your own colony.” Pearl responded. “I am here to serve you, my Diamond.”  


Pink shuddered her face, as if she was expecting something else entirely. “You do not need to call me “my diamond” every time you talk to me. The sentences get way too long with that.” She said, as if it was obvious. She was smiling.  


“Yes, … my Diamond” She smiled back. “Sorry, that one sounded just too short”  


Pink giggled. “So, how is White D like?” It was odd for Pearl to see a diamond smiling and laughing at her jokes.


	3. Three

A lot of years later, Pink Diamond was set and ready to start colonizing Earth, her very first colony. The first kindergarten on Earth was ready for the injection of its first gem soldier, who in the first moment would work on establishing the rest of the colony. Earth minerals were perfect for harvesting quartz soldiers and everything was going smoothly. The thing about changing from White Diamond, who had about ten colonies to look after, to Pink Diamond, who was still on the waiting process of her first colony was that, with Pink, she had oh so much free time. Her life became less running around and more sitting around. More specifically, sitting around Pink. The two gems were now very close. Not in the way she was close to White Diamond in the sense of eons of serving her, no, not like that. With Pink, it was a totally different thing.

“Pearl, can you come here for a second?” They were in her chambers, in Pink’s spaceship, somewhere in the Milky Way Galaxy. Pink was comfortably sat on her chair, using her computer to watch the space surrounding her ship. More particularly, she was watching a massive planet with a huge number of moon orbiting it. “Look at this planet, Pearl. It’s huge! Do you see how many moons it has? It’s so beautiful. They are all circling it in grand speed and none of them ever collide with each other. Look at how they move.”

Pearl smiled. She was used to it now. She found it odd in the first years, how Pink would call her and show her ordinary planets with ordinary moons and just point out how their colours were so vibrant, or how the reflex of the light on them would cause some visual effect that she found beautiful. “It is beautiful, yes. I think they will collide at some point, though. And then, the pieces will form more moons that will either join the orbit or just fall into the planet itself. Right now, it looks like the moons are dancing.”

Pink gasped. “Pearl! Do you know how to dance?” She looked at her with a very excited face. Her eyes shone like stars and her hands clapped those little claps of hers.

“Yes, I know how to dance. Do you want me to dance for you?” She said, before realizing the mistake she had made.

Pink’s face fell in the same instant. “No. I don’t want you to do it as if I gave you an order. Would you like to dance for me?” Her face lit up just a bit with the request.

Pearl blushed. Pink was so unique. Never in a thousand of millions of years White Diamond would have asked her if she wanted to do something for her. White Diamond would always demand things. Of course, Pearl knew that she would do whatever Pink asked her. She never even thought of not doing the things Pink asked her, but the fact that Pink would ask her brought a new light to the whole thing.

So that night, Pearl stretched herself, walked to the centre of the room and danced for Pink for the first time ever. Of course, she knew how to dance. She was a pearl, after all. She was supposed to know how to entertain her master if she had to. What she did not foresee was that in some moment Pink would stand up and ask Pearl if she could teach her some moves. 

“I give up. I don’t understand how you can do that with your legs. How is it possible for you to be so good at it? The number of things you can do is amazing. Where did you learn how to do all these things, Pearl? What is your secret?” Pink asked, sitting on the carpet and looking genuinely mesmerized.

Pearl laughed, her pale cheeks turning a bit blue, and sat by her side. “Well, I am much older than you are, so I’ve had more time to learn all the things I can do. Also, I am a Pearl, it is expected from me to know how to do several different things. And because I am a diamond’s Pearl I am supposed to do it better than others, which I do, as you can tell.” Pearl had a smile on her face. She knew it was silly, to hold proud for being a pearl. But she wasn’t just a Pearl. She was a diamond Pearl. Pink Diamond’s Pearl.

“Can I, you say?” Pink had a joking smile on her face. As she usually would when Pearl was being a brat about her abilities.

“Of course, you can, my Diamond. You said it yourself!” Pearl said, with the joking tone she would now use when referring to Pink as “my Diamond”.

“Brat! Seriously now. Is there something you would like to do that you don’t know how to do yet?” She was playing with Pearl’s fingers, a habit that was now a common place for them.

Pearl released a long breath, using the time to think of Pink’s question, while enjoying the sign of affection Pink was showing her. It was such an unusual question, even though it was normal for Pink to show interest in her life just because. “I think I would like to learn how to fight with a sword. But, you know, there is no such thing as a swordfighter Pearl. That is not the reason we are made for. How about you, Pink?”

Pink looked at her in silence for a moment, thinking deeply about it. “I do not know what I would like to do. I always wanted my own colony, but, now that I have one, I am not feeling as fulfilled as I thought I would. But I think that, if that’s what you want, you should learn how to use a sword.”


	4. Four

“What is bothering you, Pink? You’ve been oddly silent for the last fifteen minutes.” Pearl touched Pink’s hands as they walked through a giant sequoia forest of a tertiary period Earth. They had done this a couple of times since the colonization process had begun, walking around Pink’s colony, exploring its nature. Pearl was surprised the first time they did it. First, because she had never done this with White Diamond. She suspected the other diamonds had never landed feet on their colonies. At least, not outside the kindergartens and even then, they would only go to the kindergartens in very specific situations. It was a singular thing what Pink was doing, yet when she came around her chambers inviting Pearl to come with her to get to know her colony, Pearl could not advise her otherwise, simply because she got instantly curious about being in a place she had never been before in her entire existence.

The second reason she was surprised the first time they went to Earth’s ground was because of the things they found when they got there. This world was so colourful, it was mesmerizing. She felt the sensation of water on her body for the first time. She felt the heat of the sun on her pale skin. She heard all sorts of noises around her, from a variety of creatures she did not know existed. Pink, who shared all those experiences with her, was as stunned by them as she was. This colony was beautiful.

“I am just thinking, Pearl, how all these trees are going to disappear when this colony is completed. It makes me kind of sad. That is just it. Don’t you feel sad, too?” Pink looked at her, her eyes glowing from the tears they were holding. Pearl’s chest shrank from seeing her Pink sad.

She thought of all the good moments they had shared on that planet, and how they had involved being together and enjoying Earth’s nature and beauty. “I had never thought about it before, but I think it is kind of sad how all this is going to die once it is over. We had good times in this place.” She looked up to the ancient trees, how they seemed so unswerving in that moment, with their huge roots underground holding together almost thirty meters of fixed carbon in the form of a trunk. It was sad, indeed. Those trees had been growing for around two thousand years and in a few more they would be gone forever.

They stood in silence for a couple of minutes after which Pink held her hand, making her stop walking. “Here, Pearl, the reason I brought you here this time is because I have a gift for you.” Pink’s gem glowed as her hand reached a handle followed by a long, slim blade, revealing a sword out of her gem. “I remember you once told me that you would like to learn how to fight with a sword. In fact, I never forgot it in the first place. Now, Pearl, even though it was never like it should be, the roots of our relationship, along with the purpose of your existence is that of someone who is bound to give up their desires and put someone else’s as priority.” Pearl felt her heart shrink. It was, wasn’t it? She was Pink’s servant. There were times she almost forgot it. The relationship they had was so different from that of a pearl and her master that sometimes Pearl was struck with this situation. “I never wanted you to feel like that at all, but here, beneath these ancient trees, I want to give you this sword as a symbol of your freedom and of my caring for you. You are not just a pearl and you are not just my pearl. You are your own gem, with your own desires, feeling and thoughts.” Pearl blinked, the seriousness of the moment just now reaching her mind. “Of course, I cannot give you your freedom in front of everyone else. But I want you to understand that when we are alone, just the two of us, you are my partner and just that.” Pink stopped, made a funny face and continued. “Well, not just that, but you know what I mean, right? Oh, this did not sound as I planned.” Pearl was laughing now. “Here,” Pink continued fast. “Take this sword and learn how to use it. It will be our little secret.” 

Pearl took the sword and looked thoughtfully at it. It was beautiful, long and slim, perfectly balanced for her. The Bismuth that had made this sword must have known who it would belong to, Pink had ordered it specially for her. However, Pearl could not understand how it would be possible for a pearl to start training with a sword without anyone noticing. She was about to voice her concerns when Pink started to shine into a different form. She had never seen a diamond shapeshift before, but there she was, Pink Diamond had changed her form into a rose quartz soldier, shorter than her usual diamond form, with long pink hair and a white dress. “Pink?”

“Now this is how it is going to work: to not bring out unnecessary attention, from now on, when we need to come to Earth, I will assume this form. My court gems are already wondering why I am coming to Earth so often. You will be seen accompanied by a rose quartz soldier and you will say you’re coming to Earth on Pink Diamonds behalf. There’s no reason to give more information. That is, if someone ever asks you in the first place, I will be a quartz soldier assigned to protect you.” Pearl looked at her and nodded. It was a good plan, it made sense. “Here, we will keep doing the things we want, here is the place you can train your sword fighting skills, here is the place you can be free. And so can I.” Pink silenced and looked at Pearl with excited black eyes, so different from the pink ones with diamond shaped pupils she had grown fond of.

This was it, their little rebellion. Pearl felt the excitement grow inside her guts. “Thank you, Pink. For the sword and for everything else.” Pearl could see the implications of what this all meant. She knew Pink, she knew her master… her friend well. She knew Pink was starting to elaborate a plan. A plan to save Earth. She just hadn’t voiced it yet, but it was there, growing through all the barriers that made Pink a leader of a colonizer race. Deep down all the indifference and strength of a conqueror, there was a rebel, a loving creature that soon would be willing to give up everything to save this planet. It was there, Pearl could see through this Rose Quartz soldier’s eyes, it just hadn’t hatched yet. And when the day would come when those pink or black eyes would ask her the question she was so sure would come, Pearl would say yes. She would hold her sword with a firm hand and say yes. I will fight with you, for Earth, for you, for me. “Call me Rose.”


	5. Five

From that day on, Pearl, along with Pink, fell into a routine totally different from the one they had. Every morning they would leave Pink’s ship and go back to that sequoia forest and Pearl would train with her sword. Firstly, she did not know the right movements and had no book to learn the techniques. She’d rather just dance with the sword in her hands in a way that seemed dangerous to anyone who would find themselves at the receiving point of the sword. It was all she could do, but it felt incredibly good to do it. Pink, always disguised as Rose Quartz, would sit along and give her tips and compliments. Some days, she would get bored and walk away to explore their surroundings and Pearl would be left alone with her sword.

Time went by and they kept witnessing Earth’s incredibly changing capacity. A particular species of animals emerged, the humans, and Pearl would find Rose more and more fond of those creatures. She would say they were intelligent, so much so that they were ever learning. Meanwhile the colonizing process kept going, as Amethyst Quartz soldiers had already emerged from Earth’s fertile grounds.

One day, Pink told Pearl that she would like to learn how to use a sword as well, and asked Pearl to teach her the things she already knew, who readily agreed with the proposal. From that day on they trained together.

“Keep your eyes on me!” Pearl said out loud as she advanced in Rose’s Quartz direction, giving blow after blow while Rose stepped back trying her best to defend herself. “Your defence abilities are flawless, Rose, but you got to attack if you want me to back up, otherwise you’ll be cornered by the trees behind you” She had become an exquisite swordfighter since she was always a self-taught gem.

“I am trying! But you’re too fast, my love.” Rose said concentrated on stopping Pearl’s advances and when Pearl blushed she took advantage of her distraction to turn her body and sword to the left and initiate a series of attacking blows. But Pearl was already back on track and had enough time to change into the defending movements. They laughed out loud, as they would often in these training times they shared. Training with Rose was good, firstly because now she had an actual opponent to try her techniques, but also because anytime with her Pink would make for a delightful time. They were metaphorically shining. Rose would give a blow and Pearl would defend it, right before changing the game and attacking Rose, who would then put her sword against Pearl’s attack. In one particular attack, Pearl stepped on a rock and found herself falling to the ground. Right before the impact, she felt a hand on her waist and before she knew it she was face to face with Rose, who was laughing at Pearl’s startled face. Their laughs merged together and as they did, their bodies started doing so. First, she noticed a brightness coming from her gem, and right after that she perceived that Pink’s gem was also shining, and as Rose disappeared right in front of her, so did Pearl. 

Next thing she knew she was opening her four eyes. Four eyes? She also noticed that she was not herself anymore, she was different. She was wonderful. “What is this?” And the voice that came out of her mouth was not entirely hers as well. “Pink? Pearl?” They looked down. Their body was taller, and they were using a mixed version of their clothes. “Is this… fusion?” Fusion! Is this possible?” Rainbow Quartz was laughing. They were laughing. It felt different. It felt good. It felt intimate. They stayed fused for the rest of the day, getting a hold of their new body. They played with their suddenly smaller sword. They looked at the trees above them. They ran and jumped and climbed the trees to their highest branches. They danced and laughed and even cried a little. None of them had ever felt this happiness before. They were more than they were apart. Stronger, faster, happier. It felt amazing, Rainbow Quartz was amazing. They watched the sunset as one being for the first time and when they decided to unfuse and go back to Pink’s chambers, they came back hugging each other, with their eyes closed, their smiles as big as their faces.

Rose opened her eyes slowly and looked deeply in Pearl eyes for a while. “I want to fight for this world, Pearl” Rose’s voice was calm, but decided. She was confessing something to the only other gem in the universe she knew would understand her.

“I know” Pearl simply answered, because she already knew, indeed.

“Will you fight with me, Pearl?” 

“Yes, Pink, yes I will”

“Awesome, so here is what I have been thinking…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it, feel free to leave a comment. As it is my first work I'm excited to hear what you have to say about it.


End file.
